Berlin, April 16 (Darfur24)
Donors pledged €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in aid to Sudan at the close of an international conference in Berlin, marking the third anniversary of a war that has driven millions into hunger and extreme poverty.
In a recorded address, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate end to the “nightmare” of the conflict, urging both the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces to cease hostilities and halt external interference and arms flows fueling the war.
He stressed that humanitarian support remains insufficient and called on the international community to mobilize greater assistance, warning that the conflict’s impact is destabilizing the wider region.
German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said participants had pledged more than €1.3 billion despite declining global humanitarian funding, describing the outcome as a “positive sign.” He added that Germany alone committed €230 million to help alleviate suffering in what he described as the world’s largest man-made humanitarian crisis.
However, UN officials noted that by mid-April, only 16 percent of the required humanitarian funding for Sudan had been secured.
The war, which entered its fourth year this week, has pushed around 21 million people into acute food insecurity, while poverty rates have doubled to 70 percent, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
African Union Commission Chairperson Mohamed Ali Youssouf called for increased international attention to what he described as a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”
The conflict, which erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million people, in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.